Across the EU, unprecedented longevity and a growing population are adding to the pension liability headache of member state governments and also for the EU as a whole. Failure to proactively address the growing savings gap threatens to hinder growth locally and, at EU level, the European Commission's Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative of which the proposed Regulation on a pan European personal pension product (PEPP) (proposed Regulation) (PEPP) forms part.

At a time when EU citizens are considering the benefits of the union, Brussels has remained focused on the CMU and protecting the retirement interests of a wider range of EU citizens who are increasingly represented by a self-employed and/or mobile workforce. The PEPP proposal seeks to provide a voluntary passportable personal plan that citizens can take with them as their employment circumstances change.